Genesis 15

Wycliffe Bible

15 And so when these things were done, the word of the Lord was made to Abram by a vision, and said, Abram, do not thou dread, I am thy defender, and thy meed is full great (Abram, do not thou fear, for I am thy defender, and thy reward shall be very great).

² And Abram said, Lord God, what shalt thou give to me? I shall go without free children, and this Damascus, son of Eliezer, the procurator of mine house, shall be mine heir. (And Abram said, Lord God, what shalt thou give me? for I have no children, and this Eliezer of Damascus, the procurator of my household, shall be my heir.)

³ And Abram added, Soothly thou hast not given seed to me, and, lo! my born servant shall be mine heir. (And Abram said again, Yea, thou hast not given me any children, or any descendants, and so this slave, born in my house, must be my heir.)

⁴ And anon the word of the Lord was made to him, and said, This shall not be thine heir, but thou shalt have him heir, that shall go out of thy womb. (And at once the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Nay, he shall not be thy heir, but thou shalt have an heir who shall come from thy womb.)

⁵ And the Lord led out Abram, and said to him, Behold thou (the) heaven(s), and number the stars, if thou mayest. And the Lord said to Abram, So thy seed shall be. (And the Lord led Abram outside, and said to him, Look thou up at the night sky, and count the stars, if thou mayest. And then the Lord said to Abram, So shall be thy descendants.)

⁶ Abram believed to God, and it was reckoned to him to rightwiseness. (And Abram believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.)

⁷ And God said to him, I am the Lord, that led thee out of Ur of Chaldees, (so) that I should give this land to thee, and (that) thou shouldest have it in possession.

⁸ And Abram said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall wield it?

⁹ And the Lord answered, and said, Take thou to me a cow of three years, and a goat of three years, and a ram of three years, and a turtle, and a culver. (And the Lord answered, Bring thou to me a cow of three years, and a goat of three years, and a ram of three years, and a turtledove, and a pigeon.)

¹⁰ Which took all these things, and parted those by the midst (And he brought him all these things, and divided them in half), and setted ever either part each against (the) other; but he parted not the birds.

¹¹ And fowls came down on the carrions, and Abram drove them away. (And when birds came down onto the carcasses, Abram drove them away.)

¹² And when the sun was gone down, dread felled on Abram, and a great hideousness and dark assailed him. (And as the sun went down, fear fell upon Abram, and a great dark hideousness assailed him.)

¹³ And it was said to him, Know thou (a) before-knowing, that thy seed shall be [a] pilgrim four hundred years in a land not his own, and they shall make them subject to servage, and they shall torment them; (And the Lord said to him, Know thou a fore-knowing, that thy descendants shall be foreigners in a land not their own, and they shall make them subject to servitude, or to slavery, and they shall torment them for four hundred years;)

¹⁴ nevertheless I shall deem the folk to whom they shall serve; and after these things they shall go out with great chattel. (nevertheless I shall judge the nation for whom they shall be slaves; and after these things they shall go out with many possessions.)

¹⁵ Forsooth thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and shalt be buried in (a) good [eld] age.

¹⁶ Soothly in the fourth generation they shall turn again hither, for the wickedness of [the] Amorites be not yet [full-]filled, till to (this) present time (until now).

¹⁷ Therefore when the sun was gone down, a dark mist was made, and a furnace smoking appeared, and a lamp of fire, and (it) passed through those partings. (And when the sun had gone down, a dark mist came, and a smoking furnace appeared, and a lamp of fire which passed between the pieces of the animals.)

¹⁸ In that day the Lord made a covenant of peace with Abram, and said, I shall give to thy seed this land, from the river of Egypt till to the great river Euphrates; (And on that day, the Lord made a covenant of peace with Abram, and said, I shall give this land to thy descendants, from the River of Egypt, that is, the Nile, or the Shihor River, unto the great Euphrates River;)

¹⁹ (yea, the lands of the) Kenites, and Kenizzites, and Kadmonites,

²⁰ and Hittites, and Perizzites, and Rephaims,

²¹ and Amorites, and Canaanites, and Girgashites, and Jebusites.